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Published: June 25th 2008
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Driving down from Port Douglas it soon came very apparent that we had left it too late to book in to a camp site for the night, everywhere seems to close at 6-30 and there was nowhere for us to stop. So having driven along three coastal paths and been unable to park the camper van due to parking restrictions we found ourselves driving into a new housing estate that was till under construction and pulled up on an unfinished road next to some very nice show houses!!! Kevin even had the cheek to fill the water tank up on the van from a nearby water tap from the side of one of the houses!!! I was frantic we would be seen and that would have been the end of our visa! So with little choice we bedded down for the night only to be awoken at 6-30am by the sound of the nearby digger starting up its engines ready to start on the road next to us. So very quickly as if in a comical sitcom we jumped into the front seats and drove off before anyone came knocking on the door and ended up in a Health Care car
park where we washed and dressed and headed off again before people arrived for work! What an adventure, it was obviously Kevin’s childhood Romany past coming back to him!
So after a short drive we found ourselves checked into a legal campsite this time and got ready to enjoy our last day in Cairns.
We decided to have some fun and visited the Water-Ski lake with rotary lines that hooked you up on a circuit around the lake and pulled you around. Needless to say Kevin and I watched from the shore line but the boys were keen to don life jackets and start off by using the Wake boards which you knelt on and held on for dear life as the rope pulled you off the side of the jetty and pull you round the lake at great neck speed. After a few attempts the boys got the hang of things and progressed to using the single water-ski board.
It was hard work and not at all easy to stay vertical but everyone did extremely well and we were glad that we had only paid for an hour session as the boys arms and knees soon began to
feel the strain!
From here we went to an Aboriginal Cultural Park called Tjapukai which was near Kuranda and the Sky Cable Train. The centre as divided up into areas and were introduced to the Aboriginal Customs and Ceremonies along with dancing and the playing of a didgeridoo and very strange but wonderful sounds resonated around the outdoor auditorium! From here we learnt about bush medicine and how to cure a hang over and bad breathe to mention a few. It was very interesting to see how natural objects were used to contain and serve as everyday kitchen appliances. Who would have thought that a loofer sponge could be cut in half and pulled open from the middle to create a sieve or bag?! The wonderful smell of crushed Lemon Mertyl could be made into a pomander to inhale to release the effect of headaches and soap, I wonder if Crocodile Dundee knew that?!
Making fire using a wattle stick and some coconut fibres proved to be a challenge for the boys who after taking it in turn, managed to create a spark and then a wisp of smoke, eventually the entire coconut fibre was a blaze! Once the
fire was lit what better than how to learn how to through a spear to catch your dinner and throw it on the fire. There was definitely a knack to throwing these and although Tristan managed to propel his a fair distance any passing pray would have just sauntered away!! Likewise the Boomerang throwing experience was also as comical as we did not succeed to return our boomerang let alone hit anything!
The final exhibit was to listen to the history about the Tjapukai Tribe and how the past two hundred years effected their exact being when their natural habitat and way of life was threatened and their stories and traditional way of life was almost made extinct. All very thought provoking.
The boys were still feeling in need of an adrenalin rush so challenged each other so we headed off to the nearby Go Kart Track and chased each other around a race course for 10 laps trying to over take each other as they went. Just as well they were not on the highway!
A final meal in a very nice restaurant on the board walk opposite the ocean finished off our day before heading back
to pack our bags for the last time before heading off to the airport in the morning to fly to Brisbane. It is hard to believe that our travelling has come to an end after such a long time.
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